Crew take pair of exhibitions

The Crew hosted a doubleheader Saturday at Crew Stadium, welcoming the Michigan State Spartans and the West Virginia Mountaineers for a pair of exhibitions during the club's MLS bye week.

The Black & Gold kicked off first against the Spartans, drawing first blood in the fouth minute when new signing Milovan Mirosevic sent the ball into the back of the net from a missed Michigan State clearance.

The Crew made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute as Shaun Francis's cross from the left flank found the head of Olman Vargas for the tally.

Mirosevic netted his second in the 54th minute on a beautifully curled free kick past MSU goalkeeper Bryce Dobbins. The fireworks continued as Sebastian Miranda sent a low cross into the box for a nifty back-heeled finish from Vargas, his second goal of the match.

Just one minute later, rookie midfielder Kirk Urso extended the Crew lead to 5-0 with a laser from 25 yards out to beat the Spartan keeper.

Michigan State's lone goal came in the 85th minute as forward Adam Montague powered a shot to the far post past William Hesmer.

In the second match of the day, a side of mostly Crew reserves held the West Virginia attack at bay as Hesmer and Homegrown signing Matthew Lampson were rarely tested in the match.

The only goal of the match came just after haltime when Crew substitute Aaron Horton knocked in a Tony Tchani delivery to put the Black & Gold up 1-0.

Horton's strike is all the Crew would need behind a shared shutout between Hesmer, Lampson, and the Black & Gold back line.

The Crew will have a week full of training ahead of next weekend's MLS home opener against the Montreal Impact.